Mariners score massive bullpen upgrade while giving up future bat

There was a large group of fans online (well, at least the loud ones) that were incredibly angry when Dipoto traded Kendall Graveman to the Astros. Lots of fans who were refusing to look at the big picture, worried that he was “giving up on 2021”. Well, with the Mariners latest trade for Diego Castillo, the bullpen is back in a fantastic place.

In Thursday afternoon’s trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Mariners sent out JT Chargois and Austin Shenton for Diego Castillo. Chargois is having a good season but doesn’t have much of a track record of success in the majors. Austin Shenton is a special bat but could be a year or two away still. Here’s the kicker about Castillo. With a 2.99 career ERA in 183.1 innings and a K rate of 10.7, he is still under team control through 2024.

Mariners GM Dipoto added a fantastic and controllable arm to the team.

Could the Mariners lose this trade in the long run? Of course they could. Shenton could end up having the fantastic hit tool that many think he possesses. Chargois hasn’t been anything special, and that could be as much a product of the Mariners team’s success in the bullpen this year as any other factor. He is going to Tampa though, so it could easily continue.

Castillo is a fantastic bullpen arm, and easily improves the Mariners pen. Think about who they are throwing out there right now. Steckenrider, Sadler, Smith, Sewald, Castillo. That’s a NASTY combo.

Diego Castillo also brings a bunch of “oh my” pitches to the Mariners. He’s got the turbo sinker. If that was good, this may be better. Sometimes they call it a fastball, but it seems like some odd two-seam/sinker mix, and it’s wonderful. Trying to guess on the slider and sinker? As Pitching Ninja says… good luck.

Twitter can be an awful place. A fantastic place (like watching pitch overlays). Also, it can be a confusing place. Good luck trying to figure out who won this trade. It’s the Mariners and the Rays. Both sides are worried that the other side won because that seems to be all they do. Neither side loses trades often, or badly when they do. I love Austin Shenton, as that bat just seems wonderful. But the Mariners made a massive upgrade for 2021 with this trade.

The deadline is only a few hours away (five counts as a few, right?). It’s already been a wild one, and one of the craziest in recent memory. It sounds like Dipoto has some more things that he is still working on, so make sure to stay tuned and see what Trader Jerry has planned by the 1:00 PM Pacific trade deadline for the Mariners.